


still feel for you

by DizzyRedhead



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Awesome Caitlin Farmer, Birthday Fluff, Derek "Nursey" Nurse is Unchill, M/M, Minor Chris "Chowder" Chow/Caitlin Farmer, Multi, POV Derek "Nursey" Nurse, PolyFrogs, Polyamory, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 06:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13608057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyRedhead/pseuds/DizzyRedhead
Summary: Derek has a lot to be thankful for. Two awesome boyfriends who love him? It's dumb to feel sad that he doesn't get to be with both of them on his birthday. Stupid holiday birthdays.





	still feel for you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RiotKid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiotKid/gifts).



> aka Derek Nurse Deserves Everything Because He's Awesome. There's no plot here, just almost 2k of tooth-rotting fluff. For RiotKid, who requested polyfrogs. One of the suggestions was "derek's boyfriends surprise him on his birthday?" and I kind of ran with it. I hope you like it!!!
> 
> Title from "Valentine" performed by Jim Brickman and Martina McBride because I am exactly that kind of sap.

Derek’s not pouting. He’s not. It’s fine. He’s a grown-ass adult man who understands, intellectually, that his birthday falls on the biggest romantic holiday in the country. And that might mean that one of his boyfriends will want to spend some of that time with his girlfriend. 

It takes him a minute to really grasp the weirdness of that sentence, the way that it would cause most people to do a double-take.  _ How the fuck is this my life? _ he wonders, not for the first time. 

It’s completely awesome, and completely mind-boggling, that he has boyfriends, plural. That Will had ever taken the time to get over the bullshit he was on when he first came to Samwell, to become the kind of person Derek would want to date. And that C would want to date him, too--it’s a lot. It’s so much. He has so much. It’s dumb and childish to be resentful over one tiny little day.

So he won’t be, he decides, nodding firmly. They’ll have breakfast together, and probably lunch, too, if the half-whispers between Will and C are anything to go on. And in the evening, he’ll be with Will, doing whatever he’s been secretly plotting about for the past month, and C and Farms will do their thing. And this weekend they can celebrate his birthday together, the three of them, and it’ll be fine.

It’s fine.

* * *

The day goes off pretty much how Derek expected. Waking up for morning practice is never fun, and as nice as it would be to fall asleep curled together with both his boyfriends, there isn’t a bed in the Haus big enough to accommodate three D1 hockey players, especially not when two of them are d-men. Give him another month and he can probably convince them to let him buy a new queen-size for C’s room, but today is not that day.

They practice, and they go to team breakfast, and it’s good. Nobody makes a fuss like Bitty did when he was here--nobody could make a fuss like Bitty did, so none of them even try. But Will produces a cupcake and a candle from somewhere, he gets a kiss from both his boys before they split up for classes, and it’s good.

It’s extra insulting to have to take classes on his birthday, but at least there aren’t any tests, so Derek survives. He’s increasingly grateful that he took Fatimah’s advice and saved a gen ed requirement for his last semester; having one class where he doesn’t have to think too hard is saving his fucking life.

It’s not exactly a surprise when C and Will turn up on the quad at lunchtime with takeout from his favorite food truck, but it’s nice. Especially since he has an extra-long break on Thursdays, so they can sit by the Pond and take their time. Will doesn’t even bother trying the kimchi fries, so it looks like he finally learned his lesson, and their bahn mis are loaded with enough meat to make even Jack Zimmermann happy with their protein intake. 

“Where’s Farms?” he asks around a bite of pure awesome. A chunk of meat falls to the ground, and he resolves to chew and swallow before saying anything else. Sandwiches this good shouldn’t go to waste.

“She has class this hour,” C replies, somehow managing not to drop any of the gigantic bite of food in his mouth. “And anyway, she thought we’d want boyfriend time. She says happy birthday, though.”

Derek swallows carefully before answering. “Aww, she could’ve come. Except for class, I guess. But I’ll see her before y’all leave tonight?”

“Sure,” C answers. Maybe a little too quickly, but the sun is shining enough that they’re not freezing, it’s a gorgeous day, and Derek is  _ not _ going to ruin this.

“Chill,” he says, mostly for Will’s reflexive eyeroll, and returns to his food.

All in all, it’s an awesome day, even when he has to get up off the bench--sadly leaf piles in February are too cold even for him--and head back to class, after more kisses. And tonight is going to be even more awesome.

* * *

Thursdays somehow ended up being Derek’s heaviest class day, so he’s used to being the last one back to the Haus. He’s running even later than usual, because he had to wait to talk to Dr. Rodgers--the final project is worth literally half his grade, and anxiety has him double- and triple-checking that he’s not painting his way into a corner. 

It’s after five by the time he turns the corner onto Frat Row, the sun already disappearing below the horizon. Derek checks his phone, just in case he screwed something up by running late, but Will knows his schedule better than he does. There’s no way he would’ve planned to start anything without adding in a good amount of wiggle room.

Derek’s steps quicken as he walks toward the Haus, trying to anticipate what Will has planned. He has a secret romantic streak that never fails to delight Derek, so there’s literally no predicting what it might be. But whatever it is, it’s going to be sweet and thoughtful. Derek can’t wait.

The door is already unlocked, lights streaming warm through the windows as Derek steps inside. He heads for the stairs, a little surprised not to run into anyone on his way. But when he opens the door to his room, he finds Will waiting there with a hesitant smile.

“Hey, babe.” Derek drops his bag on the floor and makes a beeline for Will. Five hours is too long to spend without kisses. “Sorry I’m running late; do I need to start getting changed?”

Will kisses him back, a soft hello, then pulls back, still looking a little uncertain. “Well, that’s sort of up to you?”

“Me?” Derek echoes. “Okay?”

“So--” Will bites his lip. “Okay, so we have two options for your birthday. Because I honestly wasn’t sure what you’d rather do. And whichever one you pick is cool.”

Derek blinks at him for a second. “So, like a choose-my-own-adventure? I loved those books!”

“I know,” Will says fondly. “So here are your choices. If you want to drive up to Boston, have a romantic dinner, and go ice skating under the stars, turn to page 24.”

“God, I love you, you dork,” Derek laughs. “What’s option 2?”

Will grins back at him, soft and sweet. “If you’d like to put on your pajamas, go downstairs, watch Netflix and eat takeout in the pillow fort Chowder and I built, turn to page 13.”

For a second, Derek’s heart is so full that he almost can’t breathe with it. The feeling of being known, of Chris and Will understanding him so well and giving him what he wants, what he needs--he has to swallow back tears, because this isn’t a moment for tears. Even happy tears.

“Page 13, a hundred percent,” he says when he feels like he can trust his voice. “Gimme a sec to get changed and I’ll be right down.”

“Okay.” Will leans in for another kiss. “I love you too, you know.”

Derek smiles back at him. “I know, babe.”

“I’ll go get everything set up,” Will says, stepping back. “Don’t take too long making yourself pretty.”

“Please, I’m always pretty,” Derek mock-protests as the door closes between them. He’s pretty sure he hears Will murmur “yeah, you are” before clattering down the stairs. It puts a smile on his face as he turns toward the dresser.

For a second he considers putting on the fancy pajama set his dad got him last Christmas, but wearing them anywhere outside his and Will’s room is just asking for them to be destroyed. Besides, from the sound of things, tonight is about softness and comfort. 

So he pulls out his favorite Samwell sweatpants, warm and soft from a hundred washes, and hesitates a second before stealing one of Will’s sweatshirts. A pair of the warm, fuzzy socks that were Fatimah’s Christmas present to him and he’s ready, wrapped in warmth and love from his skin out.

He has to go down the stairs carefully to avoid his feet slipping out from under him--last time the bruise on his ass lasted for a fucking month. Concentrating hard, he rounds the corner to the living room--and stops dead in his tracks.

“Surprise!” Chris says, smiling up at him from the nest of pillows and blankets on the floor, Will and Farmer echoing the word a second later.

Derek realizes his mouth is hanging open, but he can’t quite stop staring. “Wha--I--what?” he stammers, half-wondering if he’s imagining things. “I--what are you guys doing here?”

“It’s your birthday, silly,” Chris says, patting the space between himself and Will. “Come on, get in here.”

“But--it’s Valentine’s Day,” Derek says, still rooted to the spot. “You can’t--you shouldn’t--”

Chris’s eyes soften as he gets to his feet, crossing the space between them. “I wanted to be with you on your birthday,” he says simply. “Cait and I are going to do Valentine’s dinner tomorrow, just the two of us.”

“It was my idea,” Farmer chimes in. “Getting a reservation on Valentine’s Day is a bitch, and there’s too many people.”

No matter how hard Derek searches, he can’t find any trace of a lie or resentment on her face. “I--are you sure?”

“We’re sure.” Farmer joins Chris, nudging him gently toward the pillow pile. “Come on, your boyfriends wouldn’t pick the show without you.”

It still feels a little fake, like the rug is going to get yanked out from under him at any moment, but Derek lets himself be tucked between Will and Chris, with Farmer smiling at him from the other side of Chris. He lets them feed him his favorite foods when the Chinese gets there, bites of crab rangoon and ribs and General Tso’s chicken.

He lets himself have this moment, and slowly the curl of guilt in his stomach subsides. Slowly he starts to believe, that he can have this, that this is real.

And if he cries a few happy tears in the darkness of the living room, well, everybody cries at the ending of Moana. 


End file.
